It’s also worth noting that there are a lot of shift functions on this keyboard. Most of them are clearly labeled and self-explanatory, but it will take a while to commit them to muscle memory. All but one of the 37 keys has a shift function. As do most of the buttons. The most immediately useful and obvious are the ones that control the arpeggiator and scale mode. The arpeggiator here is excellent. There are seven different modes including: in order, random and polyphonic. And there are options to descend one octave or ascend up to three. Scale and chord modes make it easy for those of us with lesser keyboard skills to transpose a chord or stay in key when jamming. There are seven preset scales to choose from, but you can also create custom scales and save them in one of the two user slots. 

There are even three options for how the sequencer will advance. There’s forward, obviously. But there’s also a random mode, which just jumps around a sequence chaotically. This is surprisingly fun for creating on the fly drum fills without relying on the beat repeat function. Then there’s “walk”, which is semi-random. The KeyStep Pro manual probably explains it best:

In Walk mode, the sequencer digitally ‘throws a dice’ to decide whether to go forward or backward at the end of each step: there’s a 50% chance it will play the next step, a 25% chance it will play the current step and a 25% chance it will play the previous step.

This is actually pretty similar to the stochastic mode on the Volca Modular. And, it turns out it’s really great on drums as well. If you find yourself falling back into the same old grooves or just want something that’s a tad unpredictable (without being pure chaos), the walk mode can generate some great glitchy drums. This works best with pretty busy patterns, though. 

Terrence O’Brien / Engadget

Honestly, my only complaint here, other than the occasionally steep learning curve, is that you have to have the sequencer playing to use the arpeggiator. It would be great, especially when just noodling around and jamming, to be able to use the arpeggiator regardless of whether you’ve hit play or not.  

The only thing keeping the KeyStep Pro from being a no-brainer is its limited software integration. This was built almost exclusively for players who spend their life using hardware instruments. There’s no transport controls for your DAW and a limited number of knobs, which need to be manually mapped. 

If you’re running a hybrid setup with both hardware and software, you might want to consider either a dedicated controller for your DAW or the Novation 49SL MkIII. It’s quite a bit more expensive — $600 versus $399 for the KeyStep Pro — but you get tight integration with Ableton, decent pads for launching clips and finger drumming, plus multiple larger screens for direct feedback of parameter changes. You still get CV and MIDI connections as well, though fewer of them than on Arturia’s controller, and there’s no dedicated drum gates. 

It’s also a lot larger. While the KeyStep Pro isn’t exactly portable, it’s easy enough to toss in the backseat of a car or move around the house if you want a change of scenery. The 49SL is almost eight inches wider, four inches deeper and more than twice as heavy at 15 pounds. The 49SL will live in your studio. 

Word is the Behringer System 100 parts will start at $50 and top out at around $99, which puts it at the extreme low end of Eurorack gear. And that’s just a fraction of a vintage Roland module, which can fetch well over $600. To start with there will be 11 modules in the line, covering everything from oscillators, to filters to sequencers — basically anything you’d need to build a complete modular synth.

Of course there’s no word on when exactly you can expect Behringer to start shipping these. And, it’s probably safe to assume it’ll be awhile. While the company has been relentless in its engineering efforts. Actually getting things into production and in consumers hands still seems to be a struggle at times. Its 808 clone for instance suffered from significant delays. And sometime plans for a new clone are announced over two years before it actually comes to market.

That being said, Behringer first teased that it was working on Eurorack versions of System 100m modules last year. And the versions in the video above look pretty final. So it might not be too long of a wait.

Obviously Behringer’s clone army will continue to rub some the wrong way. But Eurorack is a space where their race to the bottom might be welcome. Getting into modular synthesis can be daunting and expensive (even when you’re going for a self-contained system like those from Teenage Engineering and Erica Synths). Even a barebones starter kit like the NiftyBUNDLE from Cre8audio will set you back $270. And that’s extremely cheap for Eurorack.

For the full list of Behringer System 100 Models see below:

• 112 dual oscillator with 3 waveforms, PWM and two sync modes
• 121 dual filter with 3-channel mixer per filter
• 130 dual VCA, again with dual 3-channel mixers
• 140 dual envelope has 3 outputs per ADSR plus a built-in LFO that can be triggered and phase synced
• 173 gates module comes even with four gates that can switch audio and 6 quad buffered multiples
• 297 has a dual portamento controller plus two independent CV mixers
• 150 brings a ring modulator, 2 noise generators, syncable LFO and a sample and hold generator
• 172 module delivers a 6-step phase-shifter, an analog delay, an LFO and a gate delay
• 305 is an output module a four-band parametric EQ, a 4-channel mixer, line and separate headphone output and even a tuning oscillator
• 182 there is a powerful analog sequencer with either dual 8 steps or 1-16 steps and tempo, portamento and gate time controls
• 110 is a complete synth voice with VCO, VCA and filter in a single module

The core of ZOIA Euroburo (pronounced: Euro-bureau) is the same as the OG ZOIA. Inside there’s a pretty powerful audio processor and up front a grid of RGB buttons. There’s over 80 modules (including envelopes, CV switches, slew limiters and CV loopers), not to mention over 20 dedicated effects modules on board. You can those and combine them in almost anyway you please to whip up the sound of your dreams. It can be an effect, a looper or a standalone synth — it’s similar to the Organelle in that it can do almost anything, but it’s easier to program.

Of course, being designed to talk to Eurorack means there have been some changes made. Most notably the three foot switches are gone, and instead you’ve got four assignable CV in jacks and four assignable CV out. There’s also stereo 3.5mm audio ins and outs (instead of the 1/4-inch jacks found on the pedal version) and 3.5mm MIDI ins and outs.

While the ZOIA Euroburo is built to fit inside a Eurorack skiff, there is an optional standalone enclosure if you’d prefer to use it as a desktop unit.

Otherwise there’s not many major changes here compared to the original ZOIA. Well, there is one major change — there’s now a dedicated sample player module that allows you to save and load samples to and from the SD card or even capture and play them back live. This is a feature ZOIA users have be clamoring for, so hopefully it’ll make its way to the pedal sooner than later.

There’s no word on pricing or availability just yet. But we’ll update as soon as we have more info.

The system is otherwise highly flexible with 31 inputs, 20 outputs and seven switches. It includes a 2-3-4 step sequencer, a pair of VCOs (with a controller and VCA module), several mixers, a modulator, two ASR envelope generators, a lowpass gate and a BBD delay. You can also snag it in both a desktop version (above) as well as a Eurorack module.

You can order the Pico System III ahead of its October 1st release at prices of €400 ($441) for the Eurorack edition and €450 ($496) for its desktop counterpart. That’ well above the $200 for the Korg Volca we recently reviewed, and certainly not a budget option. It’s still solid for a modular synth, however, and it could be justifiable if you like the idea of bringing a modular synth to a concert.